3-D Technology is Changing Breast Cancer Diagnoses. There are many new technologies being developed for breast cancer screening, especially 3-D alternatives that may eventually replace today's 2-D mammography. The FDA has already approved two of these state-of-the-art devices: the Hologic Selenia Dimensions 3-D system, which provides 3-D tomosynthesis images of the breast for breast cancer diagnosis, and GE Healthcare's SenoClaire, which uses a combination of 2-D mammogram images and 3-D tomosynthesis images.

Breast biopsies no longer reliable. New findings are challenging the common belief that a biopsy is the end-all answer to resolve any questions they might have about unclear mammograms.

Doctors don't always agree on breast biopsies, and say women with aytpia or DCIS should seek second opinions. While doctors almost always agree on a pathological diagnosis of invasive breast cancer, there is room for improvement when diagnosing atypia (or atypical ductal hyperplasia-ADH) and DCIS (ductal carcinoma in-situ).

Advocating Breast Density. The push for additional screening is becoming prevalent, and many states are enacting laws that require women to be notified if they have dense breast tissue and what that means in terms of the ability to accurately find cancer.

New Breast Density Technology Debuts at ECR Conference. A new research technology was profiled today during scientific sessions at the European Congress of Radiology (ECR) in Vienna, Austria. Densitas Research Edition assesses mammographic breast density using 'for presentation' digital mammography images.

Expanding on liquid biopsies with exosomes. A new type of liquid biopsy for solid tumors based on analyzing exosomes from the blood is being tested by clinicians. "The term 'liquid biopsy' describes the fact that a simple blood sample can contain many tumor-derived molecules and even tumor cells, enabling molecular analyses similar to those possible in tumor tissue samples.

New imaging tool targets degenerative diseases. Researchers have developed the first imaging reagent that can determine thiol levels in intact living cells. Now they are working on reagents that can selectively show thiol density in subcellular structures, specifically the nucleus and mitochondria, hoping to develop a nontoxic reagent safe enough to be used for diagnostic imaging, like an MRI.

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Natural extract shows promise for preventing breast cancer, study suggests. The extract from rosehips - the fruit of the rose plant - significantly reduced the growth and migration of cells from a type of breast cancer known as triple negative. This particularly aggressive form of cancer does not respond to most available treatments and tends to affect young women as well as those who are African-American or Hispanic.

Switch that might tame most aggressive of breast cancers. So-called 'triple-negative breast cancers' are two distinct diseases that likely originate from different cell types, researchers have found. They have also found a gene that drives the aggressive disease, and hope to find a way to 'switch it off'.